Genevieve Marie Hassan

Gene Hassan (Genevieve Marie Slanker-Cotner-Hassan) was born October 17, 1928, in Hemet, CA, and died May 18, 2025, in Torrance, CA, where she had resided for most of her life. Gene completed her bachelor’s degree in Botany at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1954, she married Major Morrison A. Cotner, a pilot in the U.S. Air Force, who died in action in Vietnam in 1967.

Gene became a Special Education teacher with Los Angeles Unified School District and later went into real estate. In 1976, she married Robert Hassan, who died in 2003. Gene is survived by her children Laura Liedtke, John Cotner, James Cotner, Carol Cotner-Thompson (deceased), and their spouses and children.

Gene loved traveling, gardening, bird watching and hosting gatherings in her historic Torrance home. She was a Mayflower Descendant, an active member of The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and a family genealogy enthusiast. She was distinguished as an Honorary Chapter Regent for her years of service to the DAR. Gene was a member of St.Cross Church in Hermosa Beach for many decades and was active in The Torrance Historical Society and The South Coast Botanic Garden.

The family would like to thank her Home Caregivers and Home Health Staff as well as her Medical providers who over the last months of her life provided exceptional care.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in her name to the Salvation Army or the Audubon Society.